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Ever since the Nissan Leaf came out (the first mass produced Battery Electric Vehicle), many have rushed to buy an electric vehicle. Now there is the Tesla, BMW, General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Mitsubishi, and Build Your Dreams Auto, a Chinese Automotive company which has made electric vehicles even more popular. One may think that electric vehicles are better than a gasoline consuming vehicle because they do not produce any emissions right? Well, researchers and studies have found that electric cars actually make up more than half of the CO2 produced by vehicles in our air.

Charging

So, how is charging an electric car damaging to the environment? Currently, most power plants are using coal to produce power and electricity. This means that most power plants produce a lot of CO2 along with energy. Electric cars also have an average of 3 miles per kWh (kilowatt per hour) which equates to 3 miles per gallon. Three MPG (miles per gallon) is very bad, so that means a Tesla would only get around 220 miles per charge. With the combined factors of power plants using coal and having to recharge the vehicle often makes electric cars not much better than gas vehicles.

Materials

Electric cars have to be light so it will be able to travel for long distances and maintain its quick speed. This means that these cars will need high performance materials. Lithium in its batteries allows the car to harness a lot of energy without adding weight. Lithium is made by taking water from nearby lakes to create pools where the sun then evaporates the water to reveal the precious material. This means taking water out of lakes where multiple wildlife take shelter and polluting the air as the water evaporates to reveal the solid. Other materials come from destructive mines from all over the world that harm our environment. For example, a mine in China called Jiangxi uses acid pools, coal furnaces, and oil drilling to get materials for these vehicles. This results in a lot of pollution and metal for electric cars.

Right now, the electric car industry makes up only one percent of vehicles that are bought. Soon, the number is going to rise, which only means more pollution. If we do not see power plants get out of coal, and mines develop plans to for them to be aware of the environment, then their environmental effect seems dubious. KMS student Matthew H. says: “I found it surprising to find out that electric cars contribute to global warming. I think we should be aware of the fact that electric cars do generate emissions.”